A local personal injury attorney has a TV ad in which he says that a personal injury claim is all about the money. While that may be true for that attorney’s clients, my clients want more than money. Here is what on most injured workers’ minds who visit my website, read my blog posts, or meet with me for a free consultation:
- Poor medical care. Most injured workers hire attorneys because they are unhappy with the medical care from doctors their employers and adjusters assign to them.. Insurers do not want injured workers knowing about their rights to change doctors. Experienced workers’ compensation attorneys know which doctors on the provider lists are competent and care more about their patients than the insurance companies who pay them.
- Not getting compensation benefits on time. There is no excuse for an adjuster’s failure to pay temporary total disability checks on time. Nor is there any excuse to repeatedly send checks to the wrong address, Yet, many adjusters aren’t careful to process checks correctly or on time unless an attorney is breathing down their neck, ready to file appeals or complaints.
- Worry about the future. When a terrible accident occurs unexpectedly, claimants must guess whether co-workers, their employers, and adjusters are giving them good information about the claims process. It’s difficult to know who to trust. Many well-intentioned people do not deliberately give bad advice. They simply do not correctly understand Nevada law. It’s foolish not to get answers from an experienced workers’ compensation attorney when those answers are free and when your health and economic security are at stake.
- Unfair decisions by the adjuster .Again, most injured workers don’t know much about Nevada workers’ compensation law. Some know when something doesn’t seem right or fair on their claim, but it isn’t always obvious when the adjuster isn’t following the law. The time limit to appeal an adverse determination by the adjuster is a short 70 days. An injured worker can lose valuable rights by not getting immediate help.
- Wanting to educate themselves. Injured workers know that they are at a disadvantage because they don’t know the law. The smart ones take advantage of a free consultation with a lawyer to get correct information .
If the only service you want on your comp claim is for an attorney to get you money, then you are probably shortchanging yourself. It’s really not just about the money.
